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AtlantiCare MICU Paramedics....25 years of saving lives.


Flasurfbum

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This is something I am rather proud of, since I am an AtlantiCare Paramedic Trainee. And I do believe that we also have a former ACMC MICU Medic on our forums....

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/181/story/353206.html

AtlantiCare paramedic unit a far cry from its low-tech beginnings 25 years ago

By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, 609-463-6711

Published: Monday, December 22, 2008

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - Jim Cline jokes he's such an old paramedic, he sometimes has to call the paramedics.

It's actually true. Cline, 71, of Cape May Court House, needed his colleagues when he had a heart problem that required open-heart surgery. He was happy to have them.

Cline remembers what he calls the old "swoop and scoop" days when the goal in a medical emergency was to pick up the patient and get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, can stop the bleeding, set a broken bone, supply oxygen and conduct other basic life-support care.

Paramedics, on the other hand, have much more training and can supply what is known as "advanced life-support care." They can administer about 60 different medicines, perform electrocardiograms, or EKGs, and supply intravenous fluids. Paramedics basically bring the emergency room to the patient.

That's partly because paramedics, who respond only to life-threatening emergencies, also use the latest technology to send information to waiting doctors. An EKG sent from the scene could result in a team of cardiologists and nurses ready for the patient to arrive at the hospital - and with advance knowledge of the problem.

The paramedic movement began in 1968 in Florida and got to New Jersey around 1970, according to Cline. The training initially was about 500 hours, but now it is almost four times that.

Cline began his paramedic career with a volunteer pilot program in Burlington County in 1976. He was the 43rd person in the state to be certified as a paramedic and proudly wears that number on his badge.

"I'm the oldest still-practicing paramedic in the state," Cline said.

He was one of the first hires in 1983 when Atlantic City Medical Center, now AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, began its paramedic program. Such programs are always connected with a hospital.

It began Dec. 3, 1983, in Atlantic City with Medic 6. Since then AtlantiCare has added Medic 7 in Galloway Township at its Mainland Campus, Medic 8 at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, Medic 1 in Atlantic City, Medic 5 in Wildwood, Medic 2 in Egg Harbor Township, Medic 10 in Hammonton and Medic 9 in Cape May Court House. They also have MidAtlantic MedEvac, a helicopter service based at Hammonton Municipal Airport staffed by a pilot, paramedic and flight nurse.

The service even responds to other counties, such as a tanker rollover in Gloucester County, the evacuation of a Salem County nursing home and a forest fire in Ocean County.

Cline said technology, much of which originated with the space program, has propelled the business. He remembers putting a phone on a modem to send an EKG to a doctor.

Before satellite technology, VHF radio frequencies were used to send information. This did not always work for patients who lived in the woods.

Cline, who also works as a school crossing guard, has responded to gunshot wounds, lightning strikes, car crashes, arrow wounds, plane crashes and drownings. One of the strangest calls came when somebody was killed by a cigarette butt shot out of a black-powder gun. When an Irish worker lost his leg working at a Wildwood amusement park he spent three weeks recuperating at Cline's home before heading home to Ireland.

"You name it, we've seen it," Cline said. "You just see so much tragedy, but at the same time you see so much good being done. You want the best the patient can get in the shortest amount of time."

The paramedics working at Medic 9 on Saturday agreed the hardest thing is when a child dies. It riles them that some people still don't put their children in car seats or behind seat belts. Some who vacation at the shore stay in their rented room while their unattended child is outside drowning in the pool.

"When kids die, they're the calls that really stink. You could save 15 people, and it doesn't make up for it. I can remember every single kid like it was yesterday," said Ryan Heggan, 34, of Mullica Township.

Jim Battiato, 44, of Vineland, said at the scene they deal with it by putting themselves in "paramedic mode." After the shift, that's when they grieve and critique themselves on their performance, he said.

Even the best paramedics can't save everybody. It's a lesson doctors learned long ago. Now that the "swoop and scoop" days are over for the most serious medical emergencies, paramedics are learning it, too.

Still, Battiato knows the advanced training and equipment has done a lot of good.

"What we do makes a difference in the lives of the patients," Battiato said.

E-mail Richard Degener:

RDegener@pressofac.com

AtlantiCare paramedic facts

Began: Dec. 3, 1983

Dispatched 15,700 times to treat 6,000 patients in 1986

Dispatched 27,100 times for 12,400 patients in 2007

Old-timers: Nine paramedics have worked all 25 years.

Married paramedics: Three couples are work among the ARMC paramedics.

Worst time for accidents: At night and usually involving alcohol

Pet peeves: Not using car seats and seat belts, not watching children, driving while on cell phones

Larger duties: State made ARMC's Emergency Medical Services lead agency for major emergencies in the seven-county southern region that includes Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties.

Work force: ARMC's EMS team has 220 employees including paramedics, nurses, EMTs, dispatchers, Mobile Assistance Vehicle technicians and other staff.

Big events: In 1985, before Hurricane Gloria hit, they evacuated more than 200 hospital patients out of Atlantic City.

Other duties: ARMC also transports patients to health care facilities, provides educational outreach and does training.

If needed: Can set up a mobile hospital at the scene of a major event.

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Ah hah! We have another one!

A hello to you, we met my first day on orientation, at Medic 7. I had you several times while I worked BLS treat my patients. I look forward to working with you once I am cleared to ride the street.

PM me if ya haven't figured out who I am yet.

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